Faced with your dissertation or major project and need some help getting started? Thinking about how your final project will affect your overall grades? Then read on. Tapping into her tried and tested formula for learning, bestselling author of The Study Skills Handbook, Stella Cottrell, takes you step-by-step through the key stages of planning, developing, researching and writing up your dissertation or project report. Whether you are an undergraduate or a postgraduate, this guide: - Offers comprehensive coverage of the major components essential to producing strong dissertations and project reports - Gives unique emphasis to the importance of project management skills - Gets you involved through interactive activities, checklists and engaging student examples Most importantly, it offers the support you need at every stage and will help ensure that the creation of your academic masterpiece is an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Using examples from all disciplines, this essential guide teaches students how to plan and research using qualitative and quantitative techniques and instruments, and how to construct arguments using evidence and language consistently. New features include 3 new chapters, helpful checklists, timelines and a feature looking at employability skills.

This book provides researchers with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully accomplish milestones during the early stages of research activity. Specifically, it assists researchers in developing a skill set that includes developing a research question, writing the literature review, choosing a methodology, and creating a research proposal.

'I would definitely recommend this book to students who are accepted into PhD programmes. As I was reading it, I kept thinking about my own experience as a doctoral student - and how spot on the book is!' - Professor Kristen Williams, Clark University, USA Confused about your doctoral studies? Not sure what's required but feel unable to ask? This book is for you! Addressing common concerns about processes, conventions and expectations, it helps current and prospective PhD students to avoid needless mistakes which can be costly in terms of time, money and research quality. Getting to Grips with Doctoral Research: • provides greater understanding of the doctoral process and the requirements for success • recognises the challenges facing students and offers practical solutions • uses real-life student examples, case studies and activities to bring the doctoral journey to life • is informed by the author's research into doctoral engagement among students • will be particularly relevant for those studying social science subjects An easy, accessible, and engaging read, the book will demystify the doctoral process and equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to complete your doctorate successfully.

THE ORIGINAL AND BEST – BY THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR If you are serious about succeeding with your studies, The Study Skills Handbook is for you! Stella Cottrell has helped hundreds of thousands of students to make learning easier, faster and more enjoyable. Recognising that we all have our own unique formula for success, her tried and trusted approach allows you to find the key to unlock your potential and develop the skills you need to improve your grades, build your confidence and plan for the future you want. This fully revised fourth edition features: • Chapters on all the core study skills – including research, critical thinking, MA26 writing, revision, team work and more • E-learning coverage throughout • Illustrations and a strong visual design – acting as memory joggers, reinforcing learning and making the book more accessible, fun and engaging • Lots of new material including brand new chapters on student success and time management No matter whether you have just left school or MA26, whether you are a mature, part-time or international student, The Study Skills Handbook is your passport to success.

This practical, research-informed text will provide students across all disciplines with models, tasks and activities to enable them to plan, action, write and present quality research. It will help develop ideas, creative thinking and systematic research practices to enable students to produce high quality dissertations and reports.

This highly visual text is the perfect companion for anyone studying anatomy and physiology. Offering innovative techniques to help students with their learning, this user-friendly, accessible study skills text is the perfect accompaniment to any course or textbook. Complex processes are brought to life with imaginative diagrams and storylines which aid understanding, reinforce memory and also support students with memory, dyslexic or mathematical difficulties.

Provides an easy-to-follow set of strategies and techniques that build to a plan for achieving your best possible exam performance. It gives practical step-by-step guidance in long-term planning for optimal performance through to last minute revision strategies. This fully updated, two-colour edition includes two brand new chapters.

Planning, undertaking and completing a research project – from dissertations to presentations - can be a daunting undertaking for any student, involving a number of easily taken mis-steps for those without adequate guidance. The objective of any research project is to gather data, analyse it based on your research question and present your findings and conclusions. For students, having the right approach to these steps can mean the difference between an easily handled process resulting in a well argued and presented project, or panicked flailing, misdirection and confusion. For those fearful of not getting enough research done, doing it the wrong way, putting it together incorrectly, or unsure of what the end result will be, then Understanding Research is an invaluable guide to getting it right and putting fears to bed. Successfully completing a research project is a major milestone in most university degrees, and it should be daunting – although not unassailable. This book provides students with the guidance necessary to start, undertake and present their research project in social science or the humanities. This text addresses: Where do I start? How do I begin my research and pull it together into a research question? - takes the student through the process of project design, starting research and gaining confidence in their choices Am I Researching the right things? Is it taking me in the direction I want to go? What direction is it taking me in? - explores the decision making process at all points of a research project and the implications of these decisions in the longer term Am I researching in the right way – should I be conducting interviews, reading articles or collecting statistical data? - outlines the practical and philosophical conundrums around specific techniques for gathering and analysing data Focussed explicitly on the needs and experiences of students and including a wealth of practical tips, this work is an essential resource for all students embarking on a research project. Understanding Research includes: 90 illustrations 2 tables 21 text boxes Glossary Further Reading guides for each chapter

"Presenting a wide range of authentic written materials, the book aims to develop reading strategies and the ability to write texts of various types while imparting an understanding of important aspects of German society. This course is suitable for classroom use and independent study."--Publisher.

Situated at the intersection of two of the most important areas in educational research today a " literacy and technology a " this handbook draws on the potential of each while carving out important new territory. It provides leadership for this newly emerging field, directing scholars to the major issues, theoretical perspectives, and interdisciplinary research pertaining to new literacies. Reviews of research are organized into six sections: Methodologies Knowledge and Inquiry Communication Popular Culture, Community, and Citizenship: Everyday Literacies Instructional Practices and Assessment Multiple Perspectives on New Literacies Research FEATURES Brings together a diverse international team of editors and chapter authors Provides an extensive collection of research reviews in a critical area of educational research Makes visible the multiple perspectives and theoretical frames that currently drive work in new literacies Establishes important space for the emerging field of new literacies research Includes a unique Commentary section: The final section of the Handbook reprints five central research studies. Each is reviewed by two prominent researchers from their individual, and different, theoretical position. This provides the field with a sense of how diverse lenses can be brought to bear on research as well as the benefits that accrue from doing so. It also provides models of critical review for new scholars and demonstrates how one might bring multiple perspectives to the study of an area as complex as new literacies research. The Handbook of Research on New Literacies is intended for the literacy research community, broadly conceived, including scholars and students from the traditional reading and writing research communities in education and educational psychology as well as those from information science, cognitive science, psychology, sociolinguistics, computer mediated communication, and other related areas that find literacy to be an important area of investigation.

"This essential guide provides practical help and encouragement for those who have not previously studied at a distance and is idea for students returning to study after a break. This edition is significantly revised and has been updated to include comments from distance learning tutors as well as extracts from student handbooks from distance learning courses."--BOOK JACKET.